Send us Fan Mail Better tools. More information. But are we making better decisions? An alert tells you a vehicle may be stolen. What do you actually know, and what have you already started assuming? This week on The Human Behavior Podcast, Brian Marren and Greg Williams use Flock cameras and automated license plate readers to examine how technology shapes human judgment. They discuss how a machine-generated alert can become an accepted explanation, why conflicting evidence gets overlooked, a...

Send us Fan Mail The fastest way to wreck a hard-won calm is to say one more thing. In this episode, dig into the escalation trap that shows up in boardrooms, squad cars, kitchens, and group texts: the moment an interaction starts to stabilize, we keep pressing because we still feel the original disrespect, risk, or resistance. That’s when accountability quietly turns into humiliation, and influence turns into a contest. We talk through why capable, experienced people miss the off-ramps. Str...

Send us Fan Mail Night vision keeps getting smarter, but our brains do not update on the same schedule. We’re joined by defense expert Alan Kearney, a former Irish Defence Forces officer who now works in European defense industry, to explore a problem that reaches far beyond goggles and helmets: what happens when advanced soldier systems outpace human cognition in the exact moments stress is highest? We start with the fundamentals of modern night vision and thermal fusion, then move into the...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re talking about probabilistic thinking and why language matters more than most people realize. The central idea is simple: most bad decisions don’t come from a lack of information, they come from mislabeling information. When we apply labels too early, we collapse probability, reduce our options, and lock ourselves into conclusions that may not be accurate. We’ll break down how this happens, why your baseline matters, and how small changes in langua...

Send us Fan Mail Your gut has tried to warn you before. That flicker when someone lingers by a bathroom door, shadows you to the elevator, or blocks your path with a smile and a prop—it’s not paranoia, it’s a baseline breaking. We dig into a practical method for spotting a cunning opponent early, whether it’s a low-level hustler at the pump or a higher-stakes actor at a major event. The mechanics of deception don’t change; only the stakes do. We start by stripping away the jargon and definin...

Send us Fan Mail When decisions can’t wait for perfect data, you need methods that actually work in the real world. We sit down with Brian Moon to pull naturalistic decision making out of journals and into the field where cops, medics, operators, and executives make consequential calls under stress, time pressure, and uncertainty. The conversation opens with a clear critique: elegant lab studies often miss the work. From there, we rebuild on stronger ground; agency, process, and the lived pat...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, we’re flipping the lens inward. You’ve heard us talk about reading the world around you — the external baseline — but what about reading yourself? What It Is (Street Definition) Your internal baseline is your mental operating system. It’s the framework that shapes how you see, think, and react under stress. It’s built from everything you’ve lived, learned, and believed: Past Experiences: The lessons, scars, and memories that form your personal rulebo...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful and highly practical episode, we unpack one of the most important (and misunderstood) aspects of human behavior analysis: the concept of baseline plus anomaly equals decision (B + A = D). During the episode, we dive deep into why our cultural obsession with "red flags" and anomalies often leads us astray, and why everything starts with understanding normal. We also challenge the reactive approach to behavior analysis that seeks checklists for “bad act...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when theory meets reality in a life-or-death situation? Dan Chavez found out firsthand when he and his wife suddenly found themselves in the middle of an active shooter incident. In this riveting conversation, Dan walks us through the split-second decisions that likely saved his life and, more importantly, how his training in behavioral awareness created automatic responses that kicked in when his conscious mind had no time to deliberate. The power of Dan's stor...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever walked away from a conversation feeling like you missed something important? The truth is, you probably did; and it's likely because you didn't ask the right questions. In this illuminating episode, we dive deep into the art and science of asking better questions – not just to avoid awkward small talk, but to genuinely understand people, spot intentions, and make smarter decisions. Whether you're managing a team, raising teenagers, or simply trying to navigate s...